One consequence of the latest Google algorithm changes is the diminishing returns from article marketing. Google Panda hit a lot of the article directories, including some of the really big ones, very hard. Then came Google Penguin, which targeted unnatural link profiles with too much of the same anchor text (among other things). Such a mistake was very easy to make if you used article marketing heavily.

That said, I think it's still worth writing and submitting a few articles, particularly to quality directories. But you must make sure that they are really good, unique articles of a decent length (at least 500 words). Don't make them a rehash of other stuff you have submitted elsewhere.

And don't keep using the same or similar anchor text in your author bio-box links. Vary it, while ensuring that it still relates to your site and the article content. Also, avoid generic keyword anchor text that is reminiscent of spam-laden niches like "make money online".

Using your website title or brand keywords in the anchor text is fine. That's clearly not an attempt to manipulate the rankings. And it's a good idea to occasionally not use any anchor text at all.

And make sure that most, or all, of the links to your site aren't coming back from such articles. It's important to have a nice spread of different locations for them.

If you do these things you'll have a much more natural link profile. And that's very important for SEO these days.

Here is another experience that relates to advertising a URL offline: Not long ago I was on a bus into Fremantle and while it was stopped at a set of lights, I noticed a bright orange van drive past. The URL was prominently displayed: perthcoffeevan.com.au

I immediately thought that this guy had done a very good job of domain name selection. The name was easy to remember. It had keywords in it, including one that was geo-specific. It was also perfectly descriptive of the medium on which it was displayed: the van itself! And that van was bright orange, making it really eye-catching.

If you look at the drop down menu in Google you'll see that "Perth cofee van" comes up as a suggestion. Now is that because lots of people have seen the van, and so type that as a query? Or is it because it's something that people want to find anyway? Either way, being on the very top of the results the site is sure to get regular, quality Google traffic. (Then there's the "type in" traffic from people who have seen the van and clearly remembered the URL. With the van being seen by thousands of people a day it would have to draw a small but constant flow of local visitors this way.)

Now it's interesting that he's chosen to do this because the actual business name is Coffee Crusader. Maybe they've got a fleet of vans, and each targets slightly different keywords in the individual domain name?

In any case the business owners have clearly thought about this particular domain name as part of an overall strategy. They also really know how to stand out visually, which is just a good general offline tactic anyway. Their approach is a good illustration of how effective a domain name can be if it is memorable, descriptive and totally appropriate for the medium.